Repeatedly we have sung the praises of Harry H. Begay and his works of hammered ingot smithing. Practicing silversmithing in the original style of the Navajo who learned from Spanish smiths, his pieces are not only historically true to the profession but also imbued with his inimitable sense of traditional design. For over thirty-five years he has smithed in this traditional manner. But such skill and talent has not always been wholly appreciated and for many years Harry made the majority of his annual income as a heavy equipment operator. In the last few years he has spent several months of each year extracting his piece of the rainbow from the construction boom in Las Vegas; earning good wages while smithing part-time in his off hours, then returning to New Mexico for periodic breaks. In the springtime of 2005 he was laid low by a heart ailment and subsequently underwent heart valve replacement surgery. Within two weeks he was back in the hospital, chest cleaved anew to replace the heart valve ("... and hey, mister, I think I'll take out your gall bladder while I've got the hood open."). After a few short weeks he got back to hammering silver and his production has proceeded at a trickle since then.

These concha belts show up from time to time, but not often. This one is set with a beautiful group of natural, untreated Royston turquoise stones from Nevada. These stones are predominately soft blue with matrix colors ranging from light sandy to chestnut. Each concha has a scallop-cut edge and the center oval is a repoussé pattern of radiating eagle feathers. Encircling oval bands of stampwork mark the soft doming of each convex concha and, finally, perfectly laid scallop stamps accentuate the border cut of each oval. These are large conchas and backed by leather. Each concha is attached to the belt strip by two bands of Sterling which assure that the conchas stay in perfect alignment on the belt.

The buckle is set with four stones of Royston anchoring its corners. The buckle is also rich in traditional stampwork, ellipse appliquées and raindrops. Arcs of graduated raindrops, low dome starred buttons and twist wire frame the center oval cut-out. The soft S-curved repoussée forms at the corners of the buckle represent a perfect example of a design evolution which John Adair attributes to the early decades of the 1900's (The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1944, p. 33):

A common design for the rectangular buckles was composed of four
shallow s-shaped figures, two of which were stamped at the top of
the buckle and two at the bottom.

It should be noted that most of the stamps employed in decorating the conchas are reiterated on the buckle and this makes for nice transition from the oval-shaped conchas to the generally rectangular buckle. A particularly nice detail of the buckle is the oval slot in the center which repeats the shape of the conchas and provides the requisite shape for a highlighting band of zigzag stamping as seen on each of the conchas.

Because this is a large belt with oversized conchas, we had to choose the fashion in which to present this with our photos. We decided to show an overall picture, a close-up detail of the buckle and one photo for each of the eight conchas. The third through tenth photos show all the conchas, with the third photo being the concha nearest the buckle and each ensuing photo illustrating the next concha moving away from the buckle.

Sizing is an important aspect of this belt. The conchas are now distributed with about an inch of space between each of them. This belt requires about a 32-inch waist without removing any conchas. Of course, these conchas could be spread out for a larger waist, or moved closer together to fit a 32-inch waist. Because this is made to be worn in traditional Navajo-style (meaning over the clothing and gathering a long blouse or dress), some length in addition to one's normal waist size will be used in wearing this over layered clothing.

For those unfamiliar with the processes involved in traditional Navajo smithing of hammered ingot silver, Here's a reference to one of Harry's bracelets to learn more about hammered ingot smithing.

Hallmarked "HHB" over a left-pointing arrow and stamped "Sterling" on the back of the buckle.

Stones on buckle (as seen in 2nd photo): top two 3/4" x 1/2"; bottom left 7/8" x 1/2" & bottom right 13/16" x 1/2"

Dimensions of buckle: 3 1/2 " x 3"

Stones in conchas: (8) stones ranging from 5/8 " x 7/16 " to 11/16" x 9/16 "

Dimensions of conchas: 3 1/4" x 2 3/4"

Width of cowhide belt strip: 11/16"

Fits 32-inch waist and up....

*SPECIAL NOTE ON SHIPPING*

This belt will ship via FEDEX Ground within the 48 contiguous United States (excludes Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico) for the normal shipping rate as stated in our Domestic Shipping information. We will not ship this belt outside of the United States.